It might be a little out of Mulder and Scully’s jurisdiction, but according to a batch of newly released files by the CIA, one Yorkshire city was once viewed as a hive for UFO activity by America’s foremost intelligence network.
Raiding its dusty archives, these previously unseen files from the late forties, fifties and early sixties highlight many craft sightings across the globe, including a few fuzzy shots of flying saucers in Sheffield on 4 March in 1962 - a year before the birth of Jarvis Cocker, which could explain a lot.
Yes, saving us the trouble of crowbarring in further X-Files gags, the agency has even referenced the beloved sci-fi show itself. But best of all, the spooks have even listed the 10 steps it would historically give its agents investigating UFO sightings.
With these pointers in mind, cast your eye over some of the oddest cases below:
Flying saucers in East Germany, 9 July 1952
Two men stood looking at something saucer-like and wearing shiny metalic clothing: Daft Punk's granddads or something more sinister?
Flying Saucers Reported Over Belgian Congo Uranium Mines, 1952
In case the prospect of Belgian Congo Uranium Mines were not interesting enough, this case file comes with sketches of the 'craft'.
Flying Saucers Reported Over Spain and North Africa, 1952
Casablanca? Of all the cities in all of the world, they had to fly into that one.
Office Memorandum on Flying Saucers, 15 March 1949
According to these charts, the number of UFO sightings skyrocket in summer months. Maybe aliens have just been coming over for their summer holidays.
